Giovanna

I'm another Rome lover. I guess our favorite country is Italy, and of course we have preferred some places we have visited over others, but we never get tired of Rome.

Capo: Perhaps this is a bit off track, but we are discussing Rome (Vatican City, etc.)

The pope was to be transported in a limo and asked the driver if he could please drive, since it had been so long since he had driven a car. The driver said he thought it would be okey. They exchanged seats the pope floored it.

Soon after they heard a siren, stopped and a police officer appeared at the window. He looked a bit nonplussed, excused himself and went back to his patrol car. He telephoned headquarters and told his superior he had just stopped a limo going over 100 mph and didn't know what to do. What do you mean you don't know what to do, replied his superior, write up a ticket. But I think it's God in the limo said the officer. What makes you think it's God sneered his superior. Because he's being driven by the pope replied the officer. (drum roll, etc.)

Tere

I LOVE Rome. And it's funny because it was a city that didn't appeal to me before I went there. I went there in March 2 years ago and fell in love with it. I had to take my son and daughter that Autumn ( they also loved it) and I can't wait to return !

capo

Thanks, Giovanna. I've heard variations on that before, but it's always funny.

The pope, a rabbi, a dog and an ostrich walk into a bar and order a drink. The bartender looks at them skeptically and says, "Hey, wait a minute...is this a setup for a joke?"

I can't imagine ever getting tired of Rome either.

By the way, if you see this, email me, OK? Grazie. [email protected]

nanb

To each their own,
But I adore rome!
I have gone every year since 2001, and hope to continue doing so until i die,
then after I do,
and I have specifically told my children to sprinkle some of my ashes in the Forum (where they will "blend&quot

Capo, love the joke !

aj

We were in Rome three years ago and I enjoyed the city but did not want to return (I also did not toss coins in the fountain). I have changed my mind and look forward to another trip this May. I can't wait. I just loved the colors of the buildings and can't get the city out of my head. I must see Rome again and from a second opinion!

craisin

I love Rome! I still remember seeing the Colosseum for the first time--it was breathtaking! (of course, it's more dramatic when you see it at night)

But, my appreciation for this city did not stop at the Colosseum as I explored the big churches, the smaller churches, the quirky locals, seeing a hot air balloon over the Borghese 'garden', my first gelato, getting lost, the metro and fighting with the metro ticket machine, the buses and fighting with the pickpockets, the crowds, the pigeons, the Swiss guards -- just everything!

dln

craisin, I couldn't have said it any better! Not even the getting lost for hours on end could dampen my enthusiasm for Rome. (I think even the locals get lost.) Oh the endless surprise of Rome! What I would give to see that big blue balloon rise from the Borghese Gardens, to take another peek through the Maltese keyhole, to tramp through another small alleyway only to find an unexpected ruin around the corner...bella Roma.

Now Orvieto on the other hand, the darling hilltown of so many here, left me cold. As previously said, each to his own taste, I guess.

capo

Since we're both Romaphiles, dln, interesting to hear you say that about Orvieto. We missed seeing it two years ago, and I really regretted that, as it seems like it's a town so many people rave about. What about it left you cold? And did you at least like the famous cathedral?

Back to Rome...I just picked up an interesting-looking book at the library today, <i>Notes From a Roman Terrace</i>, (2003) by Joan Marble (a member of the Rome Garden Club and the Foreign Journalists' Association in Rome.) I like the opening paragraph (I believe one short paragraph would be &quot;fair use&quot...

&quot;Whenever I am travelling in faraway places there are two sounds that always remind me of Rome. The first is the ring of a hammer banging away ona wall of brick or stone, a high-pitched 'tack tack tack' that identifies a stone-mason who is mending a brick wall or cutting a tunnel for new electric cables. Rome is the city of masons and for two thousand years men with strong arms have been raising their hammers and whamming them down onto the blunt end of iron chisels to shape the bricks and stones that form the backbone of the Eternal City. I occasionally hear this 'tack tack' Sundays too, but it is very much milder, when Robert, my sculptor husband, is making bases for his statues out of rough travertine.&quot;

You'll have to get the book to see what the second sound is.